My first post with some questions

[junk2drive]

Part way down the forum page is a thread that I posted FFAR @ FAS.org
I don't have a military background and resorted to google to find the answer.
IIRC the "w" works when your unit already has a target and the weapon number must be selected from the number keys on top of your keyboard, not the 10-key pad.

[Mobhack]

Can make a difference if "num lock" light is lit I think.

Andy

[tinkthank]

Thanks very much.
Did read about that shouting distance, of course, it is stated often in the GG -- I just can't believe my radios are malfunctioning that often!

Is there more detailed information about what "supression" means and how it works? I would also like to learn more about how rallying works (that is, the mechanics of it: Chances of success, number of tries, etc.) -- is there more info I should be reading outside of the GG?

And would you happen to know about a scenario in which harming civilians yields negative VPs?

thank you very much -- great community here!

[Mobhack]

Radios:
remember to check the unit info to make sure you actually have one (and check the unit commander for one as well since both need one to communicate)

Supression:
Game Guide "Unit Information screen"
- Suppression box - describes supression
- Morale box

- Unit leader table - Rally box

And further down, the HQ menu table - Rally is described again

Cheers
Andy

[narwan]

tinkthank said:
Thanks very much.
Did read about that shouting distance, of course, it is stated often in the GG -- I just can't believe my radios are malfunctioning that often!

It's not just malfunctioning radio's but also failures to connect that are modelled. Remember that sub-unit leaders especially usually have to keep track of several radio nets at the same time (within their own unit/vehicle, with his subordinate units/vehicles, with his commander, and with other supporting formations (think a mech platoon and a tank platoon operating together so their commanders have to keep in touch) and possible coordinate artillery or air strikes, etc).
That means a commander may be otherwise engaged and temporarily out of contact with one or more of his subunits.

Narwan

[tinkthank]

All right, I'll buy that, thank you!

@ Mobhack: Thanks, but I think you are referring to the sections such as these:

How badly suppressed this unit is. Suppression reduces morale, and also operating ability (e.g. a suppressed unit finds it harder to spot and to hit targets, and it can reduce number of shots available). Suppression comes from enemy fire, being out of command control, or having routing friends nearby, friendly tanks exploding around you, and so on. Rallying can reduce suppression.

An indicator as to how good this leader is at rallying unhappy subordinates, or himself. This number will reduce during a turn as rallies occur, and be set to zero for the rest of the turn if the rally attempt fails.

The rally rating of that leader. Higher numbers are better. As rallies are done in a turn, this number will tend to decrease. Once a rally attempt fails this number will be set to zero for the remainder of the current turn, signifying that this leader cannot rally himself or subordinates any further this move. Leaders who are in retreat or rout states, can only rally themselves as and until they reach a better morale state. Individual units can only rally themselves, only leaders can rally their subordinates. Company HQ leaders can rally any leaders or units in their subordinated platoons. A0 can rally any troops in line of comms including company commanders.

Believe me, I have read this. And I am sure this is nobody's fault but my own, but these terms are not self-explanatory. Defining "supression" as "how badly supressed this unit is" may be quite exact, but it doesnt tell me how it works. And things like "As rallies are done in a turn, this number will tend to decrease. Once a rally attempt fails this number will be set to zero for the remainder of the current turn" doesn't tell me a thing about how rallies are done in a turn, or how they can fail, etc.

But I think I am beginning to bore you guys with my questions. Obviously I come from a "different corner", have different gaming horizons, etc. It is like we are speaking a different language. That Game Guide was written for a much different target group. So while I appreciate you referring me to the GG, I did actually read it -- my questions are stemming from it, not being answered by it.

I really like the idea of this game, but I think the hurdles may be -- at least for the moment -- too great for me to grasp it. Thanks for your help, sorry to be a pest.

[narwan]

There are probably very few players out there who know and understand all of the gaming concepts. There are so many details worked into it in some way or other that even experienced gamers like me keep on discovering new things. The game tries to model small scale modern warfare as realistic as it can get it. Modern warfare is extremely complicated so the game by default will be complicated too. That doesn't mean you need to know a lot of things to play and enjoy the game.
As baggypants suggested, small scale units may be a good starting point. Another suggestion is to start with the earliest years (40's or 50's) as the equipment is less complicated and the units less lethal (and mistakes wouldn't be as deadly as in current era combat).
Final suggestion, find someone (experienced) to play a simple PBEM set-up with. Ask relevant questions as you go along the game and also get him to explain why/how he does certain things the way he does. You'll soon get the hang of it. Besides this forum you might also want to try the Blitz wargaming club for a PBEM 'mentor' (at www.theblitz.org).

Narwan

[Pyros]

Hi,

Ask from Narwan to play with you a pbem game.

After that game you may consider yourself a "veteran", because Narwan is a true master of the game.

Always seek to play pbem games against expert players and watch closely to see if you can understand their gameplay routines.

All these players will be willing to share with you some of their tricks (but not all of them).

I wish you good luck and I am sure that you will greatly enjoy this very fine game.

cheers,
Pyros

[Irinami]

Tinkthank, believe it or not you're doing great!! I'm not just being nice. I thought I knew about militaria when I started playing SP:WAW about 6 years ago. I was utterly baffled!! But you learn. Let's see if I can help you here:

o Suppression: If you've ever played the Cyberpunk RPG, this is like the Cool rating inverted. Basically, it's the mental and physical effects of being fired upon. Mentally, it's emotionally exhausting to have people screaming and other people trying to kill you! (I just got through USAF basic training... I had about a 10 suppression the whole time. ) You also have to think about the situation at hand, worry about your family, etc. Physically, in order to stay alive there are places you can't go, positions you can't be in, or else you're dead. This limits your ability to move, react, fire, etc.* You could also say suppression includes minor wounds such as grazes, small shrapnel, concussion, stone fragments, etc. Its effects in-game include a reduction in move points, reduction in speed (good! higher speed in infantry will increase the odds of a casualty being caused when fired upon, because the troops are sprinting more, hunkering behind cover less), change of status--Ready to Pinned to Routed to Retreating. The latter two do not allow your units to fire--they're routed or running away, after all.

* = If you've ever seen a movie, like Full Metal Jacket, and they seem to just be shooting at an area, that's suppressive fire. Use the Z-key in game to fire at just an area. Just like in real life, you can make a position untenable (un-holdable) with sufficient suppressing fire. You can also use it to cover the advance of other units. Z-fire/suppressive fire implies that the unit is not aiming as such, and makes a (slightly) more difficult target... thus, no (or little) opfire.

o Rally: No, this isn't cross-country racing. Rallying, like everything else, is an aggregate/amalgamation of many things. It is basically the commander and unit's ability to calm themselves down and react to a bad situation. For a basic rule of thumb, Rally - Suppression = % chance of cutting suppression in half. Rally is then temporarily reduced by about 0-3 points until the next turn. (The commander is busy getting his men to act like men! ) If the rally attempt is failed, Rally is set to 0 until the next turn. (The commander is trying to rally his men the whole turn.)

o Command & Control/Out of Contact: I don't play with C&C turned on. It just complicates things so much! I understand it, and I have played with it on, but--and this is just my opinion--I think it's a bit half-cocked. Units can't do this or that when out of contact, but still communicate the location of all spotted enemy units to all allied units. I know it's a limitation of the simulation/game engine, but it just bugs me too much. I want to enjoy my game! Maybe when I'm "good" I'll turn it on again. For learning, though, play with it off.

I'll continue in the next post--I've forgotten what else there was.

[Irinami]

Oh, some more Rally/Suppression info. You rally a unit by hitting r. Suppression seems to be based roughly (very rougly!) off of: 1/2 * (KILL+WARHEAD).

Armored vehicles can be Ready or Buttoned. Buttoned means that the hatches are all closed. This greatly reduces the crew's situational awareness, reducing their ability to spot units, their ability to return fire, and their accuracy--especially the former 2. So, a tip: Snipers firing at tanks can get them Buttoned. Then you may be able to fire from a tank or ATW (Anti-Tank Weapon--an RR (Recoilless Rifle), ATGM (AT Guided Missile), ATG (old-sk00l AT Gun) or the like) several times without getting return fre from that unit.

o Armour/Pen: At the muzzle and at a 90 degree angle, if PEN > ARMOUR then the armour is penetrated. The first number in the Pen rating (say, the 2 in a 2:10 rating) is the HE (High Explosive) penetration. This does not reduce with range, and indicates penetration by explosive force. The second number is the penetration with the weapon's standard AP (Armour Piercing) ammo. This reduces with range. HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) is a special kind of round that directs an explosion. This also does not reduce Pen with range. APCR (Armour Piercing, Core: Rigid) can actually refer to several kinds of kinetic armour piercers--APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot--it's a shell that has a tiny arrow-like penetrator in it, and this penetrator moves at ridiculous speeds due to being lighter and smaller than a standard AP round (the Discarded Sabot is the filler around the arrow that lets it fit in the gun tube and seal propellant gasses behind it), DU (Depleted Uranium--basically heavy and hard), etc. Usually it has a higher penetration than AP, but lower range (and thus a lower Pen at extreme ranges). It could be coded as superior ammo, with a higher range--or maybe just an AP round that retains energy at range, but don't worry about all that. Basically, HEAT ~=~ APCR > AP > HE. The game also takes into account impact angle. If you fire a bullet head-on at a 2mm sheet of metal, it has to penetrate 2mm of metal. If you fire it 45 degrees to that sheet, it has... a^2 + b^2 = c^2... 4 + 4 = c^2... 8 = square root of c... 2.83mm of metal to penetrate. You've increased the protection of that metal plate by nearly half again, just by changing the angle!

o Targetting: If you want to use a single weapon on a target, there are 2 ways to do it. First, you always select the unit.

Method 1: Hit the Spacebar to bring up unit details. Click on all the weapons you DON'T want to fire. This will turn them off, until you turn them back on again by clicking on them again. Don't forget to turn them on if you want them on later! Now, fire.

Method 2: Hit T, and cycle through your targets until you find one. Then hit T again! This selects the unit you cycled to as your unit's target. Now hit W, and pick a weapon. It will automatically fire at the selected target.